The Same Kind Of Stubborn
by scifen
Summary: Letty's journey after Dom leaves her in the Dominican.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and The Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

**Author's Note: **This story has been sitting in my document manager for awhile, I wasn't going to publish it until I finished _Discovering Love_, but I need space. I know Los Bandoleros reveals that Letty tracked Dom down in the Dominican after leaving her in Mexico, so please note that does not happen in this fic because I wrote it before it came out. I should also mention that chapter four might push the envelope on the T rating. You have been warned. If you feel inclined to review, please do so. I appreciate any kind of feedback, but keep in mind this story is on hold until I finish my _DL_.

**Summary:** A fast paced fic about Letty's journey after Dom leaves the Dominican.

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The sound of the morning tide washing into the shore enters Letty's ears, and slowly starts forcing her brain to bring her to consciousness. She inhales deeply, taking in the fresh sea-breezes from the ocean. It's a smell she's gotten so used to and come to enjoy so much. It's a nice perk to living in a house by such a euphoric beach. She clutches her pillow and snuggles her head against it when she notices something is off. The right side of the mattress is lighter. There's no longer another body next to her, radiating warmth and comfort. It's a foreign feeling, because as far back as she can remember there's always been one side of the mattress that's held a heavier indentation. That sunken part always caused by Dom. The only weight making an indentation is on her side. Unless she's managed to gain weight overnight, or Dom went to grab some breakfast – which she knows neither would never happen – then she's most certain he's gone.

With her eyes still closed she grasps her pillow tighter, hating Dom and his stubborn ways. Since they've become modern day outlaws, they've always figured out their next move, together, and never separating. Now, Dom is changing the game completely. She can't really blame him though, with each heist, the stakes are raised and just piss off the law even more, everywhere they go. It only makes the cops hungrier to catch such a high profile criminal like Dom. They could have stopped when they first reached Mexico and lived a low key life, but they're adrenaline junkies and became accustomed to the lifestyle they lived in Los Angeles. So naturally, they picked up where they left off, and found the equivalence of gold out here; gas trucks. Even with the cops right on their asses, she didn't care, they'd just keep running. Ride or die, which was their motto as a team but most of all as lovers. She told him that "we'll figure it out, we always do". She doesn't understand why his stubborn ass didn't just listen. If he did then they'd be heading to Rio right now. You'd think after all the years they've been together he would already realize that she's always right. She snorts; _men_.

Even though Letty has broken the law countless number of times, she's never been punished for it. She's never even set foot in a police station, not even juvenile hall. Dom has though. He's done hard time, real time, and she supposes that he doesn't want to subject her to such a horrible confined life in prison – because that's exactly where she'll go if she is caught with him.

For a brief moment she wants to stay here with her eyes closed, maybe even attempt to go back to sleep and wake up to find Dom still lying next to her. But she knows she can't, that those possibilities are her just reaching. She knows the second her eye lids flutter open that the reality of the situation is going to pound her in the chest. She exhales an annoyed breath and forces her eyes to open. The sight their bearing just pisses her off: a stack of money and Dom's only treasured piece of jewelry – his cross. She lays there motionless for a few moments while everything marinates in her mind.

After what seems like forever Letty sits upright and places Dom's cross around her neck. She lazily saunters over to the bathroom counter and looks at herself in the mirror. She grins to herself as her eyes map out the evidence of what was done from last night, and she can feel that parts of her body are still tender to touch. Over the years Dom learned every spot on her body that makes her shiver in pleasure. Last night he took point and she followed. Despite a little roughness – on Letty's part of course – he was incredibly gentle; taking his time to tend to every part of her body equally. There really are no words to describe the phenomenal way he made love to her.

Her fingers lightly touch her lips and it suddenly dawns on her that they won't be able to capture Dom's anytime soon. Their warm bodies aren't going to be pressed together. Even the simplest thing are going to be no more – like falling asleep peacefully in his strong embrace, their back and forth banter, his tooth brush next to hers, or her car parked next to his. There it is, that unwanted, hurtful pang in her chest. She shakes her head. She should have known last night was his way of saying "I love you, but this is goodbye for now." She wraps her arms around herself and breathes in his lingering scent left on her body. Letty already misses him. At this point she doesn't even want to shower, for fear of erasing not only his scent, but last night's passion. It's something she wants to cherish now that he's no longer here.

Letty tries to imagine her days and nights without Dom and they're scary. They're unthinkable days of depression and sadness. She decides she won't have it. _He wants to be stubborn; I can be stubborn right back._ She returns to the bedroom and slips on the jean shorts she wore last night and exits through the slide doors. She needs to find Han.

She treks down the short succession of wooden steps and onto the beach. She looks and sees Han a few yards down in a heated discussion with his Dominican beauty. _Men sure do think alike._ As she comes closer, his girlfriend walks away from him, shaking her head furiously. Despite his current problems, Letty waste no time in marching right up to him and question him ruthlessly.

"Where is he Han? Where did he go? I know he told you, don't even think about bullshitting me. So where?" Letty asked unmercifully.

Han sighs heavily. "Letty, he didn't tell me. He just said that we had a good run and it's time for me to go and do my own thing."

"Bullshit, I don't believe you," she says angrily. It's just like Dom to go and make decisions without consulting her and mapping out everyone's future plans because he thinks it's what's best.

Han looks directly in her eyes. "Letty, I'm not lying to you. Com'n you know me. I swear, I have no idea where he went.

Letty shakes her head in frustration. "He's a bastard," she whispers out exasperated.

Han tries to calm her down and explain what Letty see's as Dom's idiotic logic. "Letty, the heat is on like never before. They're hunting Dom down relentlessly. We have to separate him from him if we wanna stay out of prison."

Hearing his words remind her just how much they think alike. "We knew what we were getting ourselves into the minute we started hijacking. It's always been dangerous, the cops have always been after us, this is nothing new. Now, all of a sudden it's too dangerous? That's bullshit. Running from place to place, it's what we do."

Han remains silent as Letty unleashes her frustrations. She's never been to prison but it doesn't scare her. What scares her is a life without Dom. When she finally finishes Han lifts his head to meet her gaze, her eyes now glistening with unshed tears. He takes a couple of steps close and takes a hold of her hand. "I'm sorry," he whispers.

Letty simply nods and fights back her tears. "Where you headed to?" She asks, her voice uncontrollably shaky.

He grins, "Tokyo. I heard there doing some crazy shit over there."

Letty takes her hand back and embraces Han into a bear hug. He was one of the first people they met as they migrated deeper into Mexico. He became family. "Take care of yourself," she whispers," and say goodbye to the guys, and the greatest woman you're leaving behind, for me, will ya?"

Han nods. "I'll try not to miss you too much." He plants a soft delicate kiss on her forehead. "Bye, Letty."

Letty nods and makes her way back to her house as Han watches. She decides that she's going to try and find Dom on her own. Without any hesitation, she starts packing a few articles of clothing and stacks of money that she knows she'll need. As she's packing, she goes over in head on where Dom would run to. One thing she knows for sure is that he wouldn't backtrack; he'd avoid Baracoa in Cuba, and completely avoid Mexico all together. As she zips up her small duffle bag, she's set on heading back to Mexico to the last car garage the police haven't raided. There's still a few cars there – muscle cars to be exact.

Within in minutes, she's changed and out the door heading toward the closest international airport. Upon arriving she exits and abandons the car for good. She quickly swings the strap to her duffle bag over he shoulder and waste no time in purchasing a ticket for the next flight to Mexico. Letty makes sure to give one the security guards a generous tip for overlooking her bag through security check. With the amount of money she's hauling it would definitely raise suspicion. As she takes a seat among the sea of tourist she starts to map out where she'll head after she picks up a car in Mexico. Her only route is to head south.

The flight was long and tedious, the food was terrible, and the flight attendants were just plain annoying. Letty slept sporadically throughout; only waken from her sleep due to turbulence, screams of bratty misbehaved children, or to go pee. Once she steps off the plane the humid heat radiating from the desert scorches her skin. _Good ole Mexico._

Letty jumps in a taxi and tells the driver to take her to an address that's within walking distance of the garage. She can't be too careless. Even though the fed's facial recognition software only has Dom's picture she can't ever be too careful. It only takes about five minutes and as the car garage comes into view, she allows her eyes to quickly scan its surrounds for anything suspicious. When Letty feels it's safe, she quickly fiddles with her keys, unlocks the door, and enters the garage.

The garage looks just as they left it, the muscle cars blanketed with covers to try and keep the desert dust off of them. Four classic muscle cars: 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner, 1969 Pontiac GTO, 1969 Camaro, and a 1970 Chevelle SS. Letty already has her eyes set on the 70 Plymouth. She smiles broadly about how it came into her possession. She vividly recalls the day Dom won this car from Han in his Chevelle. And Letty, knowing herself, became instantly jealous that Dom owned a Plymouth Roadrunner – so much so, that she snatched the keys from Dom the same night and proclaimed it hers.

The good old days are far behind her now, and her broad sweet smile starts to dissipate at just the thought. Letty slowly and delicately starts removing the cover from the Plymouth when she notices something is off with the fourth car. Its size has changed dramatically, and she's certain that there was never a spoiler on the trunk of Dom's Chevelle. She finishes removing the cover and let it drop to her feet before cautiously padding toward this mystery car. Letty swiftly lifts the sheet, and the car that's hidden underneath it shocks and thrills her all at the same time. It's the same supra Dom first drove down to Mexico in when shit hit the fan the first time. He was here, Dom.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposely only.

* * *

The sight of the familiar – yet old – Toyota supra gives Letty immense hope that she's not only on the right track, but hopeful that she'll soon find Dom. She's surprised that he risked coming back to Mexico, but she understands, because of the car he chose to take – his father's 1970 Chevelle. It surprises her even more that he kept the supra. She remembers the night they all won new cars and he crept out into the wee hours of the night to discard it forever. Or so she thought. With this new piece of information, she is now certain he has headed south.

Letty re-blankets the supra and goes back over to the Plymouth. She's thankful that the cops have yet to find this garage, because the Plymouth is such an incredible machine that should only be in possession of those who know it inside and out; it's true worth. She tosses her duffle bag in the back and begins sifting through the countless number of keys attached to her key ring. One would think it'd take awhile to find the right one, but Letty spots it effortlessly. Not only does she know everything about cars, but she's come to learn each key's unique carvings that fit perfectly in the cars' ignition.

She sticks the key in the ignition and revs up the engine. Letty smiles at how much it sounds like a beautiful symphony to her. As she starts driving through the familiar roads and towns, her eyes catch a glimpse of one of the gauges. She's low on fuel. She needs gas if she wants to make it beyond Guatemala. As she pulls into a gas station she tries to fight back a smile. The irony in paying for gas when she and Dom have been stealing it for years makes her chuckle.

The drive from Mexico into Guatemala City was not difficult at all, it was however, time consuming. It annoyed her that she didn't know how close Dom was, or worse how far away he was. If the human body didn't need to rest Letty would have undoubtedly kept driving further. Complying with exhaustion, she settled into a in a cheap motel, finally showered, and fell asleep effortlessly.

Instead of the peaceful sound of waves or the morning salty sea breezes waking Letty from her sleep, it was the sound of a couple arguing in the next room. She groaned, and put the rather flat pillow over her head trying to tune out the yelling through the paper thing walls. In this moment she hated Dom. They could be in Rio right now, lying on a white sandy beach, drooling for days by its beauty alone. But instead – because of his stubborn ways – she's in a cheap, dingy motel with crappy pillows, and uncomfortable mattress searching for him.

Letty mumbles curse words into the mattress and forces her arms to lift her upper body. Her eyes glance toward the ratty curtains that shield the only window in the room – it looks like the sun is just coming up. _Perfect timing_. Wanting to get a head start - and most importantly to beat the heat – she quickly scurries off to the bathroom. She unties her combat boots, kicks them to the side, and discards her clothes before stepping under the lukewarm spray of water.

Within a few minutes Letty's out of the shower, dressed in clean clothes, and drying her hair in a towel. As she starts repacking her duffle bag, her eyes catch sight of her watch. It wasn't the early morning like she thought, but the evening was slowly fading to black. She not only slept all morning, but throughout the whole day. Letty inhales sharply and silently curses herself for not setting an alarm on her cell phone. She now picks up the pace and packs at a fast rate, and is out the door within in seconds, returning her key to the front office.

She doesn't bother searching Guatemala – it's too close to Mexico, she's one-hundred percent sure Dom simply passed through. Letty only makes one stop, at a gas station to fill up her tank, and to grab some food. As she drives deeper down south the roads begin to change, causing a more freestyle way of driving. With the immaculate driver she's become it poses no hurdle or difficulty. It isn't until she reaches Honduras that marks her real search for Dom.

Rather than choose the first motel in sight, Letty settles on a moderately nice hotel to rest her head for the next couple of days. Tomorrow she'll begin searching in places that look or sounds like a discrete hideout for a bandit. As she slides the keycard into the door she can already tell this place is better, just by the simple fact that she's not using an actual "key". As the door swings open Letty's notices how plush and comfortable the bed appears. She waste no time in tossing her belongs on the floor, kicking off her boots by the bed, and discarding some of her garments before collapsing in to the comfort of the king size bed.

Unlike her first night resting, sleep did not come easy. Her body was indeed tired; her eyes from focusing on the road, her hands from gripping the steering wheel and her back and bottom from sitting so long during the long hours of driving. It was her mind that was reluctant to fall asleep with Dom heavily on it. Her arms reflexively capture her pillow as she sighs. Letty misses him beyond belief. In moments like this he would give her a much needed and elaborate massage. It's only been a few days and life without Dom is already feeling like hell, both physically and emotionally. After a couple of shed tears, Letty reaches over to turn off the lamp on the nightstand before forcing her eyes shut into an involuntary slumber.

The sound of Letty's cell phone vibrating on the wooden nightstand wakes her. She double checks the time to make sure it is indeed morning and not the evening where the sun is already setting. She kicks the thick cotton sheets off of her body and stretches her arms above her head before showering. Not wanting her dirty clothes to pile up or leave a lingering stench on her clean clothes, she washes them in the sink and leaves them to dry on the shower rod. And after dressing into clothes that match the weather, she heads downstairs for some breakfast.

Her porcelain white plate is peppered with delectable french toast and tropical fruits accompanied with fluffy buttery scrambled eggs – but as wonderful as it looks and smells – Letty merely pushes most of it around her plate. Eating breakfast alone is an all new experience. Normally, she'd be pigging out with Dom, maybe sharing a few pieces of food, or stealing some off of his plate. She heaves a heavy sigh at being completely clueless about where to even start searching for Dom in such a formidable vast country. She bitterly stabs a piece of fruit and pops it into her mouth, and forces her jaw to chew and swallow. After deflating the fluff in her eggs by smashing it with her fork, Letty finally drops it and pushes the plate to the side before scurrying back to her Hotel room.

After repacking her clean clothes Letty decides to drive around town in search of a car garage. She doesn't want to take any chances with her Plymouth; after all it wouldn't hurt to make sure everything under the hood is fine. Plus, with this possibly being a never ending trip, she might as well make sure all the car parts are going to hold up. If Letty were equipped with the proper tools then she'd simply pop the hood herself, inspect, and repair. But, momentarily she's like a painter without a brush, or a surgeon without a scalpel, - simply ill-equipped to build a masterpiece or perform damage control on an engine. Besides, her mind is too distracted on finding Dom to even tinker with a car. The engine to the Plymouth roars up and she slowly drives around town asking the local civilians on the best car garages. She's slightly taken back at how friendly people are here.

After collecting a few consensuses, Letty settles on driving the couple miles out to what the local people consider the best car garage in the whole country. Normally it would take about forty-five minutes, but Letty, not being able to resist the need for speed arrives at an isolated, dingy looking garage in twenty-five minutes. She's greeted by greased up mechanics that look like they've been underneath the hood of a car all night. Letty can respect this. They do their best to flatten out the wrinkles in their coveralls, and wipe off as much grease from their face and hands. If those actions weren't enough to telegraph to Letty that these mechanics did not get female customers, then the mechanic who tried to fix his hair clarified it next.

She did her best to fight back a smile and keep her laughter from escaping her mouth, but failed miserably. Trying her best to ignore their stares and drooling expressions she firmly asked for service check on her car, and the price on four new tires. After prices were negotiated Letty entered the rustic garage and flopped down on a greasy leather couch. The sight and feel of it reminded her of the days back in LA; when she and Dom would fool around on the old, worn out, couch at DT. _Those were the good ole days. _

The garage looks like the exact opposite of one. In hindsight, it truly looks like a giant shed. Despite its rustic appearance Letty can instantly tell this garage is well equipped to effortlessly assemble and repair cars with ease. There are certain car parts and trinkets that catch her eyes – especially the tanks of Nos. _They race. _Since she's had their attention from the minute she exited her car, Letty decides to make small talk, and find out about the racing scene down here. If Dom was here, then he would most certainly check out what the race scene was about in this country. It was just in his nature to know and learn how racing differed from each country and continent.

Not wanting to displease Letty, the mechanics answer her questions quickly and thoroughly. Turns out a new racer showed up the night before Letty checked into her hotel, and one of them was going to challenge him tonight if he showed up again. She wastes no time in asking what type of car he was driving, and where exactly these races took place. From the description the mechanics gave of the car, the driver, and how fast he drove and won, Letty is most certain that it's him. With this new information, Letty is anxious for them to finish up her car and get ready for the night's events. But the mechanics, enjoying the rare company of a female in their garage take their time and work at an extra slow pace.

When her car is finished and equipped with new tires and nos tanks, Letty thanks the mechanics and pays them generously before speeding off to her hotel. Throughout the whole drive she kept going over in her head on what exactly she'd say to Dom if he indeed showed up tonight. She couldn't quite settle on what to do first. Her first thoughts went to a swift kick between his legs, then to kissing him hungrily, and finally settling on a forceful jab to his face. Even though she's overly anxious for tonight, she forces herself to sleep upon reaching her hotel. Letty knows that she'll need her rest for tonight, either for an epic battle with Dom or a huge let down that he's moved on from Honduras.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Letty's eyes open with a start as she feels the vibration of her cell phone through her jean pocket. She quickly sits upright and silences it. She draws in a deep breath in attempt to calm her anxious nerves that instantly start tingling through her body. Trying to keep herself occupied Letty heads off into the bathroom to shower. After tightly wrapping a towel around her body and wet hair, she rummages through her duffle bag for race atmosphere clothing. Through a few sighs and groans, she finally settles on a pair of black skinny jeans and olive green tank top. She didn't really care about impressing anyone, but something about tonight made her wish she at least packed something vaguely nice.

After taming her curls as nicely as possibly, she slips on her black leather jacket, gathers up her keys and bag and heads out the door. She decides that if Dom isn't there, then she's not going to waste any time in sticking around and continuing heading further south. As Letty treks down to the Plymouth she enjoys the feel of the sultry night with its cool sea breeze moderating the heat. She drives the familiar route to the car garage she visited earlier and meets up with the mechanics who did work on her car. From there she follows them further into the night of unlighted dirt roads. As she drives further and further she notices that there are less and less houses and people. For a brief moment fear floods through her body and questions the motives of these mechanics. They seem like legitimate guys, but looks can be deceiving. Her fears and any uncertainty about the integrity of these mechanics are put to rest when the road opens up revealing a new atmosphere of the type of racing she used to crave so much.

Letty follows the four mechanics' cars and parks beside them as if she's part of their crew. She slides out of the Plymouth and notices she's the only one in possession of a muscle car. She also takes note that the people who flood the atmosphere are not much different than other racing spots. The ambiance of the scene is filled with its usual colorful and expensive cars – accompanied with exotic women whose clothing does not leave much to the imagination. As she nears the front of her car, she ties up her hair into a tight ponytail before leaning on the hood.

As foreign currency is exchanged and drivers race with intensity and passion, Letty is busy scanning the sea of people for the familiar tall, masculine figure of Dom. And to her dismay she does not spot him. As the night proceeds, she removes her jacket and repositions herself comfortably on the hood of the Plymouth. She turns down offers to dance, to drink, and reluctantly bet and race. The main reason she is even here is to find Dom. Becoming frustrated with the annoying waiting game, Letty slips back on her jacket and reaches for the keys in her pocket to drive back to her hotel. She's almost halfway inside the car when a swarm of people begin to part for a fire engine red Chevelle SS catches her eyes.

Within seconds, Letty retracts her movements and is now standing back in front of the Plymouth. She draws in a deep breath and holds it in until the figure driving the Chevelle exits the car. It is in fact Dom, and she releases a breath of relief. She fights back the urge to run up to him to kiss and hit him at all the time. Instead, she remains leaning on the hood of her car, arms folded tightly across her chest as she watches him pull in everyone around him like gravity. To this day, the way he demands attention without seeking or asking for it amazes her. She watches him intently; the way he calls shots and places bets makes it seem like he's been around these people for years. She smirks at how much Dom has is utterly the same. But that smirk is quickly wiped from her face as she watches the groupies of the sport flaunt, flirt, and touch him endlessly. Her jaw clenches, but she still refrains from approaching him just yet.

Within in minutes bets are placed and drivers are lined up at an invisible starting line. And as a random woman wearing the least clothes drops a rag indicating to go, the cars jump from the starting mark and speed down the open dirt road. It was no shocker that Dom won the race. Even though Letty observed half assed, she watched enough to know that these drivers were mediocre and undoubtedly very beatable. And it was no surprise to her that he won the next four races effortlessly. It was as Dom was collecting his bountiful stacks of money when Letty decided to make her presence known.

Letty pushed off the hood of her car and quickly trekked toward the swarm of groupies surrounding Dom. As she came within closer proximity she could hear the disgusting offers the surrounding skanks were making him – ones that are in every guy's fantasy. She clenches her jaw and first inside the pocket her jacket as she watches him flash smiles. _The fucking nerve he has. _Typical Dom, being overly friend with the idiotic broads, and Letty can bet money on it that he'll simply claim he was just talking.

Letty pushes a few broads out of the way and clears her throat loudly and angrily.

"So…..if you're done making negotiations with these whores, I'm ready to race."

Dom ears immediately perked up at the sound of Letty's voice. He quickly and gently pushed the women away from him. Once his eyes met hers', the color from his face was instantly drained. Even though nothing happened and he had no intentions of hooking up with any of these women, he still felt as though he was caught in an act he wasn't supposed to be in. He stumbled and fumbled all over his words just like the first time he tried to tell he loved her.

"Letty……I was just talking…" he uttered out.

Letty laughs and rolls her eyes at how predictable he is. "Heh, heh, right……anyway let's race, come on. Let's go."

She swiftly turns her back to him and trudges back to her car. Without any hesitation Dom instinctively runs after her. Just as she opens the door to the Plymouth he reaches out and grabs her arm firmly but gently.

"Letty……" he says in his deep baritone voice that she's missed so much during these past days.

Trying not to give in so easily she angrily flings her arm free from his strong hold. "What?" she shouts out.

Dom runs one hand over his sleek bald scalp and sighs. "Letty, what are you doing here? The cops are right on my ass if they catch-"

She scoffs and interjects immediately. "Oh shut up with that lame ass excuse. Why don't you tell me the real reason why you don't want me around? I'll tell you...so you can be single and screw some silly skanks." Deep down she knows it's not the real reason, but she's so pissed off by his latest antics that she can't help herself.

Within seconds Dom's blood is boiling and his soft apologetic expression is replaced with an angered one. "What did you just say?"

Letty smirks as she notices the veins in Dom's neck and arms starting to bulge out against his skin. She figures a small price he can pay for putting her through total abandonment.

Not wanting to play games, Dom quickly closes the gap between them, and narrows his eyes in on her like she's his prey. "Are you stupid or something? How could you think that, Letty? What the hell is the matter with you?" He questions her ruthlessly. Even though he would slip and give the racing groupies the tiniest attention, he never cheated on Letty.

She merely huffs and pushes him in the chest, but Dom still stand firmly, inches away from her face.

Dom shakes his head in frustration. "Can't you see that I'm trying to protect you, Letty?"

"Whatever. Now, let's race," she says as she at last gets into her car.

"I'm not racing you, Letty. Remember, we don't race each other," he argued.

Letty chuckled. "Those unwritten rules no longer apply, Dom. The minute you left me alone in the Dominican is when you broke those rules. So just save it. Ride or die obviously went out the window went you left me. So screw you and your rules."

Dom sighs and reluctantly walks back to his car to race Letty. She was pissed off and he really couldn't blame her. He left her in the middle of the night and only left a stack of cash and a piece of jewelry on the night stand. He didn't know a single woman in the world who would not be pissed off at that. He knew she was doing this to piss him off, which is the main reason he lines up his Chevelle with her Plymouth.

Letty keeps her eyes fixed ahead – visualizing herself crossing the finish line first – and not once glancing over at Dom.

Dom, however, kept sporadically stealing glances at Letty, trying to read her facial expression. In reality, he was nervous to race her. She had grown into such a flawless driver and was more than capable of beating him. He had a gut feeling that she was going to show this crowd just how far away he was from being indomitable. As the newest stripper clothed groupie makes her way in front of both cars, Dom's focus readjust. His eyes are fixed ahead, and he too is visualizing himself crossing the finish line before Letty.

Letty ignores the little dance the girl does, the way she sensually waves the rag around her body for Dom, and anxiously awaits for the piece of cloth to hit the ground. As it sprucely leaves her finger tips, both Letty and Dom clutch the steering wheel and gear shift tenaciously. The second the rag gracefully floats and nips the ground, they take off with vast speed, as if they were prisoners on a block that have just been set free. Unlike the onlookers, Dom isn't the least bit surprised that she's matching his speed with ease.

Dom almost wants to laugh as they both press their nos buttons simultaneously. They know each other too well, so much so, that they cross the finish line in perfect formation, resulting in what they both know as a tie. And rather than return to hear the onlookers debate on the winner, Dom motions for Letty to follow him. Even though she's still upset, she complies and follows Dom closely.

He leads her in the opposite direction she came from – eventually going off road – and into what appears to be deep into the wilderness. As Letty tails Dom, she thinks to herself how she would have never have found his hideout. They drive for about forty-minutes until Dom finally makes a sharp turn leading to a small house that looks as though it's been abandoned. When the wheels of each of their cars stop moving, Letty follows Dom inside.

Its outside appearance matches the inside. If not for the single worn out cot, and three-legged wooden nightstand, then the place would undoubtedly be devoid of any furniture. Judging from the neatly stacked bags at the foot of the cot, Dom was planning on leaving after the racers. Letty sighs, folds her arms tightly across her chest as she leans against the wall.

"You're not leaving me," Letty states.

Dom draws in a deep breath and takes a seat on the cot. "Letty, I told you….I don't want you around when the cops catch up to me. Don't you know they're throwing big numbers at anybody who's with me? The cops are getting hungrier, Let, you have to stay away."

Letty scoffs. "How can you tell me that? I knew what I was getting myself into the minute we started hijacking trucks in LA. I told you I'm gonna stick by you, I keep my promises, asshole."

"I'm trying to protect you, can't you see that?" Dom pleads.

"I don't need protecting; you of all people know that. I just need you," she says, this time her voice softening.

"You think this shit isn't killing me? I hate that I'm not with you, but if being apart means that you'll be safe and out of prison, then so be it. I wouldn't be able to handle knowing that you're in prison. I'd go crazy," Dom explains.

Letty unfolds her arms and steps closer to Dom. "It's a risk I'm willing to take, I don't want us to be apart. _Don't you get that?_"

"It's a risk I'm not willing to take. Prison is no joke Letty…..it's……it's…." Dom sighs and firmly grabs the back of his neck, "it's a nightmare. You're not even a person once that orange jumpsuit touches your skin…….you become a fucking number…..and being inside the four walls of a prison……."

Dom sighs and struggles with his words. The thought of prison, and thinking about what it would be like for Letty churns his stomach. Being confined for two years changed him dramatically at the tender age of eighteen. As he begins to tell Letty in raw details of his experience he can feel those old familiar demons creeping back into his mind – ones that taunted him for months after he returned from prison.

"I don't care how tough you think you are…..prison will break down anyone……. So please, Let, for once...just do this."

Letty takes a seat next to Dom, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she begins to wring her hands together. The details of prison he just poured out shocked the living day lights out of her. But even through hear fear soaked expression she still tries to fight Dom on this. "What if…….we just go to another continent…..like Asia or something. Dom, we can run…"

"And what? And hope the cops forget about all the shit we've done? It doesn't work like that Letty. Damn it," he explains in an exasperated tone.

"We can lay low, and just race our way by. We don't need to do anything major like hijacking."

Letty can tell by his silence that he's not going to budge. As she watches him stand from the cot, the tears she tried so hard to fight back finally fall from her eyes. Dom takes steps as heavy as stone toward his bags, swings them over his shoulder, and exits the house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Fast and Furious or its characters. No copyright infringement intended. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Instinctively, Letty clutches the significant cross that dangles from her neck. Dom's reasons for separating are common sense and hold valid points. It's the right thing to do to keep everyone safe. For Letty, in this situation, her heart refuses to agree with her brain and all the information Dom fed it. Whatever happened to "a life without love is no life at all"? She'd gladly risk being sent to prison if it meant that her last breath of freedom – or rather in life – was right beside Dom. _What the hell am I supposed to do now? _Before she could dissect the situation or question further, the front door is flung forcefully. She flinches and looks up at the figure that barged in and broke her reverie.

She quickly wipes away the streams of tears that pepper her cheeks. "I thought you were leaving," she sniffles out.

Dom closes the door softly and makes his way towards Letty. The expression worn on his face is full of remorse and intensifies as his eyes meet with Letty's red-rimmed ones. Without another word spoken he brings her to her feet. He stares into the eyes of the only woman he's ever loved and beings melting away. He gently holds her face in his hands and capture's her soft lips. He kisses her hungrily and possessively. Each kiss is filled with both lust and love. Letty steps closer, pressing her body against his as she lays her hands on his hardened chest.

As he continues to kiss her fervently, his hands start to wander; moving from her face and into her dark locks of hair. Letty slowly retracts her hands from his chest to remove her jacket. Not being able to fight the ache between her legs, she slowly and reluctantly pulls her lips from his to remove their shirts before wrapping her arms around his waist. Dom smiles and presses his lips back to hers. His hands tenderly touch her neck before sliding down her sides where he delicately grazes the curve of her breasts. As their tongues become entwined Dom's hands continue further down, reaching around her waist, and cupping her bottom. Not knowing where his hands are going to touch her next drives her completely insane and only intensifies the heat rising between them.

Letty's mind was quickly becoming incapable of holding a single thought – everything slowly starting to become blurry. Dom followed suit in removing more unneeded clothing and in a few suave moves their bodies are pressed together on the cot, their bare skin massaging one another. Dom wastes no time in sliding right into complete ecstasy. Instantly, he's marveling how after all these years the fit was as though they were created for each other. He takes a moment for his eyes to ingrain Letty's expression when he's inside her, before continuing to make tender, passionate, love to her. After collapsing breathlessly on one another, they hold each other tight, and fall asleep into what they both know as their final peaceful slumber.

This time it's Letty who quietly wakes up first and carefully untangles her limbs with Dom's. She begins to dress quickly, wanting to do this as fast as possible; leaving the man she irrevocably loves behind. As she slips her arms through the holes of her leather jacket, her eyes downcast onto Dom. The sight their bearing causes her eyes to prick with tears. She hurriedly averts them before the tears have a chance to rush from her eyelids. She agilely pads silently to the front door and slips out into the night. After taking a couple of steps on the moist dirt it dawns on her that she doesn't have her keys. _Damn it._ Letty abruptly turns around only to bump into a half naked Dom. _So much for ripping off the band-aid._

"You forgot your keys," he says his voice thick with sleep. He grabs her hand and places her endless amount of keys into her hand. "Here, take this too," he adds, as he places a large stack of money in the other hand.

Letty sighs. "I don't need any mon-"

Dom places his index finger on her lips. "Shh, just take it, please. You never know."

"Fine, I'll take it. But only because you know I won the race," she says, trying to lighten the mood.

He forces a vague smile and wraps his muscled arms around Letty. He knew this day would come and when it did he told him himself he'd do what was best, no matter what. But now that it's actually happening, it's so much harder than he ever imagined. He's never regretted anything in his life, but becoming a criminal is entertaining the notion to start doing so. He never imagined his life without Letty, but now – he not only had to imagine it – but live it. After a couple minutes of silent embracing, he leans away from Letty to looking into the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen. His heart – already broken – shatters into an infinite amount of pieces as he sees that her eyes are glistening with unshed tears. Those tears caused by him.

"So, where you headed?" she asked, trying to stabilize her shaky voice.

Dom slightly grins. "Why? So your stubborn ass can follow me?"

Letty chuckles lightly. "Well, that's not such a bad idea. If it results in nights like this one, then shit I just might."

"Most likely………Panama."

She nods. "Well your ass better not go to Brazil or get into trouble without me, okay?"

His eyes instantly fill with tears. "I love you, Letty," he whispers before planting one final kiss on her lips.

Dom stands there and watches as she slides into his 70 Plymouth and drives off into the night. He trudges heavily back into the shed, dresses, and hauls his bags into the Chevelle. As he starts the car, he wipes away the tears that have fallen from his eyes, and drives off in the opposite direction of Letty.

Letty can hardly focus on the road, partly because of her blurry vision caused by the tears that have welled in her eyes. This is by far the most strenuous task she's ever done. What makes it worse is that she feels painstakingly desolate. The new family they rebuilt in the Dominican has now come to a pass, just like the original team did in Los Angeles. And it's the remembrance of the original team that finally makes the tears in her eyes stream down her face. It makes her question if all the law breaking, hijacking, escapades were worth it. A question that looks like it plans on haunting her for awhile.

She drives back toward the border as if she's on autopilot, the wheels of the Plymouth rolling over the dirt roads of Honduras back to more developed paved roads. This time, Letty doesn't mind stopping between legs of her trip – not only to rest – but pick up some extra cash on the way. Even through the time consuming activities like racing, the voyage is still a difficult one. The quote: "nothing last forever, except in our memories", starts to become clear, a lot more fathomable as she drives further into Mexico. When she reaches Mexico City, she nestles down in a hotel and contemplates on where to go next.

As Letty lie on the expensive linens that blanket the king size bed she stares up at the ceiling, mentally swimming around in her own thoughts. Her hands meet over the middle of her chest as one of her fingers repeatedly trace the outline of Dom's cross. Who was there left to go to? The family she had become a part of as little girl broke off piece by piece and left in mere pebbles. Some were lying six feet underground, while others moved on feeling abandoned and betrayed. She and Dom rebuilt a solid unit in the Dominican, once again feeling as though this team was unbreakable – but they too shattered. Her fingers finally stop tracing and curl tightly around the cross into a firm grip. _Screw this. _Letty hops off the bed, gathers her things, and once again heads into the driver seat of the Plymouth. Sulking and crying – that isn't her, she's self-sufficient. Of course she misses Dom, and wants to be with him, but sulking about it isn't going to make the feds stop hunting him. And with that, she presses the gas pedal, making the wheels travel forward toward her old stopping grounds – where it all began.

As Letty drove into San Diego butterflies started fluttering about in her stomach. It had been roughly about four and a half years since she stepped foot in the states, and even worse seen Mia. Through all the heist and exotic places she and Dom ventured to they never forgot about her. They worried about her constantly, felt guilty for having to leave her behind and practically fend for herself. Even though they've known each other since they were little kids, she briefly wondered if Mia would welcome her with open arms. As far as Letty was concerned she wouldn't be surprised if she slammed the door right on her face.

After exiting the freeway toward the familiar Echo Park area Letty finally let her eyes wander and take in the scenery she once called home. Certain turns led to her first elementary school where she first met Dom and Vince. Just the thought of Vince made her heart prick with pain. She didn't even know where he was or how he has held up after all these years. Another turn led to a high school where she and Mia became inseparable like sisters and proudly graduated. As she drove further toward the old Toretto house she passed by what used to be the café, only now turned into to some sorry excuse for a dinner. That was where Leon and Jesse first showed up and never left. The place that really sent a rush of emotions through Letty's body was the DT automotive garage. The building held memories from as far back to the days when Toretto senior was alive and when she, Vince, and Dom took it over as late teenagers. The building that was once full of life and excitement was now left abandoned. It's exactly how she felt when she thought of the original team – she and Dom just abandoned them.

The memory of them forced her to pull over to release the emotions that quickly built up. She placed her hands in her face as streams of tears poured out of her eyes and broken sobs escaped her mouth. She wondered how in the world everything became so messed up. The only person to blame is herself, she willingly fell into line, followed suit, and chased after adrenaline like it was oxygen. After taking a couple of minutes to wipe her cheeks and eyes clean of tears she turned the key to start the Plymouth. She forced her eyes to stay on the road rather than look at all the old familiar places. It would just flood her mind with memories that would make her heart ache in remembrance of them.

Within minutes she's parking in front of a white wooden, two story house. Despite the place being devoid of cars and its chipping paint it relatively looks the same. Even though it's been years, Letty still finds it hard to believe that only one person lives here now, when each room in this house was once occupied. Life sure did have a way of changing one's plans, unexpectedly and rather quick at that. She draws in a deep breath, trudges up the familiar walkway, and firmly knocks on the front door.

Letty hears a familiar, yet different voice yell from inside the house and ask, "Who is it?!?"

The sound of a grown up Mia catches her off guard and she can't find the words to answer. She hears her sigh annoyingly and take heavy steps to the front door before swiftly pulling it open. The sight both of their eyes are witnessing leaves them speechless.


	5. Chapter 5

Letty was astounded by how much Mia had changed. Her hair was no longer in feathery layers but all in one length – with straight bangs sweeping just above her eyebrows. It was a more simplistic style than the big hair she used to adore. Her facial features matured dramatically. The physical appearance Letty was looking at was much more toned; indicating Mia probably worked out on a regular basis. She no longer looked like a teenager in high school, but in fact a full grown woman. Five years certainly made some rather striking changes. However, there was one thing Letty noticed that was still intact after all these years, and that was her sense of fashion. Mia's flashy earrings, five-inch pumps, and fashionable dress were the clear indicators.

Mia cocks her head to the side, "So are you just going to stand there or what?"

Letty smiles and quickly steps towards Mia and engages into a tight embrace. "It's been too damn long, girl."

"Tell me about it," Mia sighs as they pulled away. "Come in and tell me about everything I've missed out on."

Mia steps to the side to allow Letty to pass by. Although the outside holds familiarity to Letty, the inside makes her feel as though she walked into the wrong house. The Toretto home she grew up in is no longer. The frumpy, yet comfortable couches that once vacated the living room are replaced with suede ones. The stereo that used to blare out loud various types of rock music is gone, and the walls have been splashed with new coats of paint. Aside from a few familiar pictures on a coffee table and the walls there is nothing else she recognizes.

Letty takes in all the new surroundings as she flops down on the very plush loveseat. "You really cleaned up the place."

Mia chuckles as she sits on the sofa adjacent from Letty, "Yeah……the furniture that was around when we were young was already old to begin with. Don't worry though, upstairs is pretty much the same."

"So, where is the big old lump?" Mia asks quickly and concerned.

Letty swallows hard before speaking. "Not with me," she answers slightly agitated.

Mia looks at her quizzically. "What happened?"

"What happened?" Letty chuckles as if she really has to explain. "Your brother pulled another dictatorship move, always deciding everyone's plan without out even discussing it with anyone. Nobody else can have a say in it. He doesn't even ask for anyone else's input. He thinks only his logic is right," she rants on exasperatedly.

Mia sighs, knowing exactly what Letty means. "Well, that sure does sound like my brother – stubborn."

"Stubborn being an understatement," Letty adds.

Mia gets up from the couch and sits beside Letty. "Sorry, Let. Even though he's stubborn as hell I know it's tough being away from him. _Trust me_, I know."

It was in fact difficult being away from Dom – for both of them – which was clearly understandable since they had virtually been together since they were young children. Letty appreciated the fact that Mia could empathize with her rather than sympathize. If anyone understood being away from the person or people you love it was certainly Mia.

"So how bad did things get for you guys to split up?" Mia pries.

"Bad, I guess. He was talking like this was the end of the ride for all of us, like there was no more room to run anymore," Letty explains worriedly. "He didn't even say how long this separation was going to last. I thought it was just until things settled down, but I really think this is it."

"Ah, Let. I'm sure it is temporary. My brother loves you. There's no way he can be apart from you forever. He'll come back," Mia assures her. "Besides, I could use some company."

Letty turns her head to look at Mia and smiles. "What? Still no boyfriend? Don't tell me you're still sulking over Bri-"

Mia rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. Don't kid yourself. And, for your information I've had plenty of boyfriends after Brian," she adds matter-of-factly.

"Right," Letty nods in agreement sarcastically.

Mia snickers at her as she gets up from the couch. "Come on…let's get you settled into one of these bedrooms. Well, I think we both know you want to stay in Dom's old bedroom."

Letty narrows her eyes at her. "Bitch," she mutters under breath.

Mia merely chuckles as she climbs the stairs. When she reaches the top she retrieves some clean cotton sheets, a plush comforter and begins prepping the bed.

Letty enters the room and her mind is instantly flooded with memories from their childhood, all the way up to their earlier twenties. The furniture is still in its original spot, a few posters are still in one piece, along with a few car models that she and Dom built as kids. But, it's a familiar, center spot on the wall that catches and holds her attention. Despite their curling edges, the photographs of her, Dom, and their once close nit team are still pinned to the wall. She immediately, yet slowly begins a gait across the hardwood floor. She smiles at how the same spots still creak when stepped upon. As soon as the photos become within arms reach, she delicately runs her fingers across them. Afraid that they may crumble if too much pressure is applied, she guides her fingers along the smiling faces as if they are fine china. A few photos make her lips curve up into a sweet smile, then there are some that make her chuckle lightly, and finally there's one that makes her lip quiver and eyes water.

Seeing the faces of Vince, Leon, and Jesse is more than overwhelming, so much so, that Letty quickly places a hand over her mouth to trap in the sob that is forming in her throat. Completely forgetting that Mia is in the room, she jumps in surprise at the hand that's placed on her shoulder. "Sorry," she whispers out.

"It's okay, Let. I miss them too," Mia informs her. "I visit Jesse's gravesite every Sunday."

Letty eventually walks away from the pictures and takes a seat on the bed. "I'd like to go with you this Sunday, it's that's okay," she says softly.

Mia simply nods. She understands what Letty is feeling. After all, it was she who planned and paid for Jesse's funeral. She had the benefit of time to grieve, while Letty's was quickly suppressed by survival and the next adventure. She dealt with everything, well, everything except the situation with Leon. She couldn't really blame him though. Losing a family member was an unimaginable experience.

"And, V………what happened to him?" Letty asks eagerly.

"He was sentenced to three years in Lompoc Prison," Mia begins in a somber voice. "I tried to visit him but he refused to see me. So, I sent him letters for a whole year, but when I never got a one back, I stopped writing. I kept checking online every month to see if he was there. He served 2 years and 9 months before he was released. A week after his release I would drive around for hours all around LA, just hoping to see him, but never ran into him. It's like he disappeared."

Letty assumed Vince felt too betrayed to even try to reconcile with Mia, Dom, or anyone else from the team. To be honest, Letty would have done and felt the same way. It was as though they abandoned him and let him take the fall for everything. However, even in the in the midst of feeling deserted, Vince never cooperated with authorities. He wasn't a rat. Perhaps that's why he served nearly all his sentence.

After a few moments of silence – both lost in their own thoughts – Mia finally asks, "So, what happened with Leon? I mean I know hearing his brother got killed probably sent him into furry, but, what exactly happened?"

Just thinking about that scenario makes Letty sigh. "I'd say he was pissed, but enraged would probably sum it up best. He even tried to fight Dom, right there, in the middle of the desert. He blamed us for everything, and called us liars. We promised to take care of each other and we failed. He said a lot of hurtful things, but I or Dom couldn't get in a word to make him understand or even apologize. In the end, he left, and we haven't heard or seen him since."

More silence falls upon them, and again, it's Mia who breaks it. Instead of asking about all the wrongs that happened in their life she asks Letty about all the "adventures" she's missed out on. And, Letty, not wanting to sulk on the negativity any longer willingly starts explaining their journey from Mexico, all the way down to the Dominican Republic. She goes into immense details, telling her about the scenery, the people, her brother learning to speak different languages, and of course about the new friends they made along the way.

Throughout all the stories Mia listens intently and remains in such awe. She hates how everyone treats her like some princess who is incapable of getting her hands dirty. She secretly envies Letty and her brother. She actually yearns to get even the smallest taste of adrenaline as they do. But with all the adrenaline and "adventures" there is an incalculable risk of injury or death that her brother would never test.

They both spend the entire night in Dom's former room, each trading pieces of information from each other lives. Mia was thankful she had the day off because if she hadn't, she would have collapsed while on the job. Not exactly a good look for a registered nurse. And, it isn't until the sun begins to peek through the blinds that they finally fall asleep.

By the early afternoon the sound of a beeping truck enters Letty's ears. Her brain tries its best to ignore it and fall back into its relaxing slumber but fails. Her eyes fluttered open and she lazily saunters over to the blinds to see where the noise is coming from. It's a tow truck backing into the Toretto driveway and Mia giving them instructions with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"What the hell," Letty croaks out as she rubs her sleepy eyes.

She quickly puts on a pair of pants and goes flying downstairs to see exactly what Mia is having towed. To her surprise, Mia isn't having a car towed, but rather to be junked. The sight of the totaled Charger stuns her. When the driver of the truck slams his door to hook the car onto his truck Letty snaps back to reality. She quickly dashes in front of the Charger as if it were her child. "Sorry, but there's no way I'm going to let you take this," she tells the fat stubby man.

He inhales deeply, "Look lady, I have a tight schedule to keep, so get the hell out of the way so I can go scrap this piece of junk."

"Pfft! Fuck off," she tells the man. "You're not taking this car."

Before the man can utter a slew of cuss words at Letty, Mia quickly interjects, "I'm sorry, sir. I guess we'll be keeping the car after all."

"Do you know how far I drove? I know I didn't come all this way for nothing," the driver stresses.

"I'm sorry for your traveling troubles. I'll be more than willing to pay you for the gas you had to waste," Mia offers.

The man simply shakes head, "Well, alright. But there's no restoring this piece junk, don't know why you would want it."

Letty snorts, if only he knew of her formidable mechanical abilities.

Mia scurries off inside the house and grabs a few bills for the driver before he drives off. "Here you go."

"Mia, what is wrong with you? Why on earth would you want to have this baby junked?" Letty asks incredulously.

"Are we looking at the same car? My brother crashed it. You know how long it's going to take to fix? Besides, it has one of the worst curses on it. I would have loved to see it gone," Mia explains.

"How can you say that Mia? This was your dad's car. He won so many races in it and-"

"And he died in it," Mia finishes. "Look, you want the car? Fine, you can have it, but I don't want anything to do with it. So, excuse me I'm going to go make something to eat."

Letty refuses to talk about anymore death, they both ventured into that conversation more than enough times last night. So, rather than joining Mia for a late breakfast, she makes her way into the old garage shed instead. The same newspaper clippings, trophies, and original racing uniform of Anthony Toretto still pepper throughout it. She instantly checks to see if all his tools are still in the same place, and she's overjoyed when she discovers that they are. _Anthony is probably turning over in his grave right now,_ Letty thinks as she looks over the damage the Charger displays. She feels as though it's her job to restore it to its former glory days – despite Mia feeling as though the car is cursed. Besides, she feels she needs some sort of project to keep her mind occupied.

Without hesitating, Letty ties her hair into a tight bun and beings collecting all the tools she needs to start removing the damaged parts of the car. Neither the hot weather, nor the growling in her stomach stops her from her working veraciously, and before she knows it the sun is already disappearing behind the house. She's surprised Mia hasn't come out and forced her to shower and eat something. She catches a glimpse of herself in an antique, shiny bumper hanging in the garage. It tells her that her hair is tousled, she has oil and grease smeared all over herself, and her eyes look an excruciating red. The image clearly indicates she needs to shower and get some sleep, so she complies, and calls it a day.

Letty rubs off as much grease as she can with a rag that's hanging over a chair before going inside. Her eyes catch a pair of feet hanging off the side of the couch – Mia has fallen asleep. So while she invades the refrigerator for food, she makes sure to do so quietly, as well as when she eats.

Finally filling her stomach with food, Letty silently pads across the living room and upstairs for a hot shower. When she finishes washing off all the oil and grease she wraps a towel around her body and hurries to the room. Feeling too tired to properly change; she puts an oversized t-shirt, crawls into bed, and falls asleep effortlessly.

The next time she wakes the sun is at its highest point in the sky. Even though her body feels well rested, her mind feels as though she's overslept, therefore meaning she's wasted time slacking off instead of fixing the car. Letty quickly wrestles the blankets off of her body and dresses into mechanic worthy clothing – a pair of khakis and white tank top. Today the house is empty, Mia has returned to work. She finds a post-it written in her handwriting ordering her to eat something before she starts working on the car. Not wanting to hear her complain later, Letty eats an enormous bowl of cereal and two pieces of toast before resuming her work in the garage.

Throughout the day Letty only takes two breaks and it's only to hydrate and to pee. Repairing the Charger has become her primary focus. She's even thankful that Mia works 12 hours shifts so that she doesn't interrupt. She works rigorously until her body and fingers are no longer willing to cooperate. Her night ends the same way as before – a quick supper, a hot shower – and finally sinking onto her bed. She's fast asleep by the time Mia comes home. The next day repeats itself exactly; the same motherly post-it written with the same orders, long hours working on the Charger, and fast asleep two hours before Mia comes home. Letty's routine is a quick fix to filling her void.

Unlike Letty's two previous nights, this one is not so easy. Her eyes are fluttering rapidly beneath the lids, her breathing is noticeably weary, and her limbs are beginning to make sporadic, yet small movements. These are all clear signals that she's dreaming, and quite intensely. She distracts herself every second that she's awake so that she doesn't have to think about him, to worry, or worse, to wonder what or who he's doing. Just because she suppresses the thought of Dom while her brain is lucid doesn't mean it forgets and doesn't submerge while it's asleep.

Letty's eyes jolt open seconds before his lips could touch her. She sighs and begins to rub her forehead. She misses Dom considerably, so it's no surprise to her that he's starting to fester in her dreams. He is, after all, ingrained into her brain – memories and all.

Before the familiar ache of longing for Dom could intensify, Letty sits up quickly and reads the digital numbers displayed on her cell phone. _2:37 AM_. She tosses her phone to the side and begins a silent gait to the bathroom. She flicks the light switch on and immediately walks over to the sink and turns the cold steel handles to run the water. The splashes of cold water on her on her warm, soft skin pricks her –causing her to instantly become wide awake. After patting her face dry with a towel, she places her hands on both ends of the sink and sighs. She contemplates on whether or not to attempt to go back to sleep. Not wanting to dwell on Dom, she makes her way back into the room, slides on a pair of sweat pants, and navigates quietly into the garage. Staying busy truly did help with falling into a deep depression without Dom by her side.

When the first morning light begins to appear, Letty finds her body unwilling to cooperate any longer. It's already a struggle to keep her eyes open, with both lids feeling as though they each weigh five pounds. Climbing the stairs to the porch is not an option, let alone any consideration for the stairs inside the house. So, without further contemplation, she places the wrench in her hand down and comfortably situates herself on an old sofa in the corner. And just before surrendering completely to sleep, she quickly hopes that she has no recollection of her dreams the next time she wakes.

The garage begins to fill with slight heat that causes Letty to sweat. Her skin is starting feel as though it's merging with the couch. She's slowly waking up from her deep sleep, but snaps right awake when the force of a towel touches her body.

"Okay, seriously Letty, I do not remember you being this messy. Get up and go shower," Mia orders.

Letty sits up and rubs her eyes with her oil greased hands. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"No, it's my day off," Mia answers. "Now, go shower, so we can get going."

"How many days off do they give you?" Letty asks, slightly confused. "Didn't you just have a day off two days ago?"

"I work two twelve-hour days, and then the next two I have off," Mia explains. "Now, come on, Let, get up and get moving."

Letty finally stands from the couch with the fresh, clean towel Mia provided. "Where exactly are we going again?"

"I haven't seen you in I-don't-know how many year, get up, we're going to hang out" Mia answers. "Besides, you'd be surprised at who is still around and how much you guys are missed."

"What? So you're saying Hector, Edwin, and everyone is still around?" Letty asks eagerly.

Mia smiles mischievously, "I'm not saying another word."

Letty sighs as she grabs her towel and makes her way into the house to get cleaned up. When she finally emerges from upstairs Mia is waiting by the door.

"You know, I don't ever remember it taking you this long to get dressed. You've turned into such a girlie-girl," Mia teases.

Letty scoffs "Shut up."

Mia leads the way outside and directs Letty toward the back part of the driveway revealing her Honda NSX "Come on, get in," she instructs.

Letty's mouth instantly goes agape. "Um……How did I miss this?"

"Well, you've been spending so much time working on the charger. It's nice, right? I've had it for a few years now. And, a good friend of ours did some pretty spiffy modifications," Mia explains with delight.

"What happened with the Acura Integra?" Letty asks. "I miss the little blue sucker."

"I sold it. I guess I just grew out of it, you know" Mia answers.

"Yeah," Letty whispers, as she runs her hand over the sleek black Honda. "Mind if I test drive it?"

Mia smiles and tosses her the keys. "Be my guest."

Letty catches them effortlessly and quickly slides into the car. Once Mia closes the passenger door, Letty puts the key in the ignition and starts her up. It sounds beautiful and she can definitely hear a few modifications already. "Alright, where to?" she asks.

"Food first. There's this diner a few streets down and then after we can stop by racer's edge. I'm sure you're going to need some sort of parts or tools that the garage doesn't have," Mia answers.

"Okay," Letty nods as she revs up the engine and pulls out of the drive way. "And when do we get to see who is still around?" she adds.

Mia chuckles, "We're about to see very soon."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Chapter runs extremely long. I was only supposed to make touch ups here and there, and well, it turned into this.

* * *

Letty alternates between the gas pedal and the clutch as she drives through the familiar streets of LA. Mia's Honda is fast and she can undoubtedly feel the modifications. She can tell that the car has been stripped of everything that wasn't needed to make room for more horsepower. One of the biggest flaws that Letty learned about an import's performance is that there isn't much torque in their engines. So, lowering the weight reduction is necessary if you want more power.

As Letty speeds up she can feel the added horsepower from the turbo charge, supercharger, blowers, and nitrous oxide. '_Mia must have spent a fortunate'_, she thinks. She smiles and remembers how she used to praise import cars, the days when she and the rest of the team would spend enormous amounts of cash on trying to make them perform faster. If only she knew how great American muscles cars were for racing back then, she would have saved so much money.

"At the next light, make a left, and you'll see the diner on the right hand side," Mia directs.

Letty nods, "okay."

Mia turns her head towards Letty and asks anxiously, "So, do you like the way she handles?"

"It's fast, no denying that," Letty answers honestly. "But, it feels weird switching from muscle to import."

Mia grins, "Is it because mine is faster?"

Letty flips on the blinker signal and laughs, "No, because it's slower."

"You're kidding, right?" she asks incredulously. "Since when are you such a big fan of muscle cars?"

"Since I learned that American muscle have more power for less money," Letty informs her as she parks the car. She takes a moment to peer out of the windows and looks around. She looks at Mia confused. "And I thought you said we were going to a diner? This looks like an auto shop."

"It's both," she says before opening the door to get out.

"Both?" Letty says to herself confused. "Who would open an all-in-one repair and diner shop?"

Letty slides out of the car and tosses the keys back to Mia. She follows her around the building, wondering who owns this business. She then remembers people work on cars here, and hopes the mechanics are not the same ones who prepare the food. The thought of oil greased hands touching her toast exits her mind when she remembers how much of a clean freak Mia is. She would never eat at a place that is not spick and span.

Mia opens the door and holds it for open for Letty to enter. Her eyes are exposed to a clean and welcoming social environment. The diner and repair shop are separated by a large glass wall to allow the customers to see what is being done to their car. _'It must be a pretty thick glass'_, Letty thinks, because she can hardly hear the tinkering of engines. She smiles as she notices that nearly all its occupants are into cars. The dead giveaway is the non-stop chatter about cars and their performance. As she follows Mia up to the ordering counter her eyes sporadically drift to the booths and tables that pepper throughout. She notices that certain people are beginning to watch her and whispering to others in the process. _'What the hell are they looking at?' _she wonders as she menacingly furrows her brows at them.

"Don't be so mean, Letty," Mia mutters in front of her.

"Why not? The looks they're giving me is a good enough reason for me," Letty tells her.

"Always ready to pick a fight. Some things never change," a familiar voice says to her from behind the counter.

The Chicano accent the voice holds sparks Letty's memory. She quickly steps from behind Mia to see if it's one of her old friends. When she makes eye contact with him she smirks. "Since when did you trade in your tools for an apron?" she asks playfully.

He chuckles. "I can do both, I'm that talented."

"Get your ass from behind that counter and give me a hug," Letty orders.

"Still bossy too, I see," he informs her as he comes from behind the counter and engulfs Letty into a hug. "So how you been?" he asks as they pull away.

"Pretty good, can't complain," she answers. "I see you're not doing badly either with this place you're running."

Hector looks around smiling at the place he has built. "Yeah, it's a chill spot. When DT shut down we all pretty much lost the best mechanics in town. I went legit and got into the nirus circuit. I did pretty well and with the money I won, I opened up this place."

"And business has been booming since," Mia finishes.

"Pretty much. But, check it out, today's breakfast is on the house," Hector offers both of them. "I gotta put away my apron and go pick up my tools. Don't leave without saying bye, alright? We still need to hang out."

"Alright, man. It's good to see you," Letty says as she watches Hector transition into the other side of the building. It felt great to see a familiar face that went back as far as her high school memories. She smiles and feels a little envious. Hector went legit, was doing things the right way, and managed to do just fine. Why did she and Dom have to thrive for more? Not wanting to linger too much in thought, Letty brings her attention to the menu and orders a large, bountiful breakfast.

There isn't a long wait for their food and neither waste any time in diving right in with the silverware present. They both eat in silence, savoring the delectable breakfast that is available to order no matter the hour. It's when they are both half way through their breakfast that a group of young guys across the room approach their booth.

Letty looks up from her plate of food to address the guests, "Can I help you?"

The young Hispanic boys look at one another, signally each other to talk first.

Mia laughs at how nervous they are. _'After all these years she still has that effect on people'_, she muses.

Letty, however, finds it less than amusing and sighs, "Well, someone speak up."

Fearful of further upsetting Letty, the shortest one speaks hurriedly. "Uh-uh-we was just um…wondering if you were one of the original members of team Toretto?" he sputters out. "You're Letty, right?"

Letty lowers her defenses and slightly grins. "Yeah, I am."

He instantly turns around to his other friends and pushes them. "See, I told you it was her," he says triumphantly.

Letty and Mia enjoy a chuckle as the boys fool around and it both reminds of the days when Vince, Leon, and Jesse would fool around like that. When they finally stop Letty asks them to pull up some chairs and join them, and each of them do not waste a second in bombarding her with questions.

"Do you still race?"

"Where's Dom? Does he still race?"

"What kind of car you driving?"

"I haven't raced in awhile, but don't think for one second that I'm rusty either. Dom……well I guess you guys can say he's on hiatus, but it doesn't matter if he's constantly racing or not, driving fast comes natural to him. And, for my car, I run a 70 Plymouth," Letty answers. She's amazed at how racers nowadays still talk about 'the team'.

"No more import car?" they ask in unisons.

"Nope, I'm all about muscle cars right now," Letty explains. "They're less expensive to build up and there's more potential to start with."

The young eighteen and nineteen year old boys look as though they cannot believe their ears. And, as their stunned expressions slowly start disappearing, the epic debate between imports and muscle begins.

"Wow, you're crazy," one of them blurts out. "I bet my Honda s-2000 will smoke your muscle car. No way you can pull that heavy thing across the finish line before me."

Letty laughs haughtily, "Muscle cars are all ready to race when they come from the factory _because_ of their large and powerful engines. Imports lack torque; muscle cars don't, so it'll be a breeze to push the heavy body up the track with no problem."

The boy shakes his head in disbelief. "No way. I've put in heavy cash and wrench work. I know I'm packing more horsepower."

"Please, muscle engines already push 300 horsepower, or higher to start with," Letty refutes.

"I've added horsepower, with turbo charger, supercharger, blowers, and nitrous oxide," he informs.

Letty smirks at the guy's dedication to imports. "And what makes you think those modifications can't be done a muscle car? Add those, plus the 300 horsepower they already come with, and the American muscle beats out imports once again."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you prove it tonight?" Hector chimes in as he walks toward their table. He's grinning from ear to ear as he cleans off his oil greased hands.

"Yeah, prove it tonight," the boys repeat.

Letty smiles and looks over at Mia to see what she thinks.

Mia shrugs her shoulders. "It's all up to you, Letty. You already know I don't have work tomorrow, and I would be lying if I said I didn't want to see all the hype about your Plymouth. The muscle cars I've seen around here haven't been very promising."

Letty takes a moment to think. Not about whether or not she will win, but if she really wants to take more time away from working on the charger. After a few more minutes, Letty finally decides a little fun will do her some good. "Alright, I'm in."

"That's what up, Letty. I'll give you the info before you leave," Hector tells her.

Mia and Letty spend another hour at Hector's diner, commiserating with the fellow customers. When they finally leave Letty drives through the familiar streets leading her to the building known as Racer's Edge. Mia informs her that she'll wait in the car, so Letty walks through the similar glass doors to purchase certain parts for not only the Charger, but her Plymouth as well.

She approaches the counter and opens her mouth to speak to one of ladies, but closes it when a familiar face emerges from the back. It takes him a few moments for him to notice Letty, and when he does he's completely shocked.

"Am I seeing a ghost?" he asks, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Is that mean ole, Letty?"

Letty smiles as she approaches the counter, "It's been a long time, man." He's changed so much that she can hardly believe her eyes. His teenage features have finally bid him farewell. Her eyes scan his body quickly and she notices that his muscle mass has grown significantly. And, the braids that he swore he would never chop off are now replaced with a simple taper.

He leans over the counter to engage in a quick hug before pulling away. "A long time? More like ages. So, where you been all this time?"

"Let's just say abroad," she answers vaguely. After the whole Briangate thing, Letty is still cautious.

"You still running with the same crew?" he asks curiously.

"No," she answers quietly. This is the only part that she hates about reuniting with old friends; having to answer questions about what happened.

"Not even with a certain Toret-" he begins to ask but is cut off quickly by her.

"Nope, not even him," she says hurriedly.

Noticing the change in Letty's demeanor he quickly backs off with his inquiring questions. And Letty, not wanting an awkward silence to manifest quickly changes the subject to him.

"So when did old man Harry decide to hand the reigns down to you, Edwin?"

Edwin shifts his eyes to the side to think for a moment. "Shit, probably about a year after you left. One day he approached me and said he was leaving town and asked me to look after the place. Few months later I get a letter saying he's handing the place over to me. It was weird; it was like he was running from something."

'_Probably the feds,'_ Letty says inside her head. "Well, he left it in good hands," she compliments.

"It really helped me scope out the competition. Kind of gave me an idea of who was running what under their hoods," he informs.

Letty laughs, "Nice. I hope it helped you win, because if my memory serves me right you weren't so hot on the track."

"Ah, shut it chump. So, you need some parts or what?" he asks.

"Actually, I do," Letty says as she hands him a handwritten list.

Edwin unfolds it and reads. "When do you need this by?"

"I was hoping to walk out of here with that stuff right now," she answers. "I'm actually returning to the old stomping grounds tonight, if you catch my drift."

Edwin grins. "You're lucky I like you, otherwise I'd make yo ass wait. Give me a few minutes," he tells her before disappearing into the back.

Five minutes later Edwin emerges from the back with several boxes. "I'll carry them out for you."

"And now you're a gentleman? Wow, you really have changed," Letty teases him as holds the door open for him.

"I see you are too," he shoots back playfully.

Letty smirks, "Only for the pretty ones."

Edwin makes his way to the passenger side of the car. "You got room in there, Mia?"

"Believe it or not, this car actually has a pretty nice sized trunk. Everything should fit," she tells him and presses the button to release the trunk door open.

After Edwin places the last box in the car he turns to Letty. "It's good to have you back, Letty. I hope you stick around."

"I think I am," she answers honestly. She really doesn't know how long Dom's separation plan is going to last, but in the mean time why not reside here.

"I'll see you around," Edwin yells as Letty begins to drive off. She waves her hand out of the window to let him know she heard.

"It's pretty cool that you've kept so close to these guys, Mia."

Mia smiles and takes a breath, "Yeah, it is. Hector and Edwin, they really looked after me the first few years. They made sure I was safe. They're good guys."

Letty smiles and nods in agreement. The remainder of the way home they remain silent – Mia thinking of what to wear tonight, and Letty thinking of the quick modifications to make on her car before racing.

When they arrive back at the house they both go their separate ways; Mia scurries off upstairs to prepare for the evening, while Letty heads straight to the garage with the boxes she purchased from Racer's Edge.

The afternoon disappears rapidly and night fall ensues. The warmth in the air flees and begins to fill with a relaxing, crisp breeze. Letty steps out of the house clothed in dark blue skinny jeans, a simple dark purple tank top, accompanied with her rugged black combat boots. She walks briskly to her car and begins to apply a few brushes of mascara to her lashes, and finally glides some lip balm over her lips. She finishes just as Mia emerges from the house and tells her that she'll follow her. She starts the Plymouth and revs up the engine._ 'That's a beautiful purr'_, she thinks.

The route to the new racing spot is a relatively short drive. Letty only remembers turning twice before Mia leads her into what looks like a caged off parking lot. The new 'meeting' place is quite enormous. It's not a narrow strip of road in-between of two warehouse building, but a rather large parking lot to a building that looks as though it serves as a discrete club scene. As she coasts through the swarm of people and parked cars she sees that not too much has changed. There are still the same cliques, the same mesh of multiple songs blaring out of sound systems, the same transferring of money and pink slips, and the same money-hungry-popularity-driven-skanks.

She continues to follow Mia to a corner where she sees Hector and his crew and parks beside a few Hondas.

"Glad to see you didn't chicken out," Hector badgers lightheartedly.

"Since when am I the type to back down from a bet?" she asks rhetorically.

"Cool, so you remembered our bet," the young kid from the diner interjects. "I'm Steven, by the way. I think I was too nervous earlier to say that."

"Good to meet you, kid," Letty says as she shakes his hand.

"So when do you want to do this? I've been anxious all day," he admits.

Letty laughs at how eager he is in proving his faith in import cars. "If the spot is set, then I'm ready when you are."

"Actually Letty, we do our racing here. The parking lot is big enough. But, instead of just going a quarter mile, we got a little longer." Hector interrupts and informs.

Letty looks around the parking lot and spots a long, narrow circular track on the other side of the fence. "Let me guess," she says pointing to the spot where other races are taking place. "We go once around that?"

Hector nods. "Yup. You think you can handle it?"

Letty scoffs at the fact that he needs to ask. "Do you remember who I am, Hector?"

"Hey, just checking."

"Those turns require some veteran drifting, just to let you know" Steven adds on.

"Thanks for the heads up, but I don't think it'll be a problem," she informs him confidently.

Without further discussion Letty, Steven, and another male racer line up their cars on the track. Hector holds the cash, and makes an announcement about how this particular race is an old school versus a new school driver. And, once he does, an enormous crowd begins to form around the track.

All three cars start up and begin to rev up their engines. The crowd simultaneously erupts in a roar of cheers to root for their favorite car or driver. It's a familiar sound that sends adrenaline right through Letty's veins. She immediately grips the wheel as she waits for Hector's signal to speed off the line, but while she waits she sizes up the competition. She's far from intimidated by Steven's Honda s-2000, however, it's the other racer that decided to join last minute that has her a little skeptical. His sleek, black Nissan GT-R could very well turn out to be stiff competition.

Letty refocuses her eyes on the track and Hector. As he raises his hands in the air Letty has her muscle car spinning its tires while its powerful motor rumbles like thunder. Hector waits a few seconds and finally swings his arms down to signal to the drivers to go. The third mysterious racer chirps the front tires of his Nissan and jumps in the lead with swiftness. Letty is right behind him within in seconds, followed by Steven moments later. The driver of the Nissan and Letty form a formidable gap between Steven and soon realize this race is just between the two of them.

The first turn comes within reach rapidly. The Nissan leads the pack by half a car's length and maneuvers the sweetest drift Letty has ever seen, and she hurriedly mimics the same to the Plymouth's body around the turn just as impressively. The crowd notices that this race is between two phenomenal racers and they let them know it by their cheers.

As they come within close proximity of the second turn, Letty effortlessly becomes tied with the Nissan. She briefly tries to peer in through his windows but they're tinted so dark that she can't even see a shadow. And, as the second turn manifest, they drift around it flawlessly in unison that leaves the crowd anticipating more. Steven – noticing the gap between the two racers increasing – instantly presses the button to ignite his nos and catches up to them.

A quarter mile is all that is left for their tires to cover and Letty's concentration intensifies. She wasn't expecting an exceptional racer such as the one driving the Nissan, but now that he was here; she wanted to beat him so badly. They both increase their speed at the same time, and anxiously wait to see who pushes their nos button first. When neither one budges, they both pressed the button at the same time and crossed the finish line dead even.

They both coast around the track once and slowly ease into a stop around the swarming people. Letty quickly quiets her engine and slides out of the Plymouth looking and feeling as though she won.

She approaches Hector and holds her hand open, "I'll take my winnings."

Before Hector could offer a response the guy running the Nissan interjects. "Not so fast, sweetheart. It looks like we tied."

Letty rolls her eyes and turns to see who exactly this guy is. The second her eyes meet his, her tough persona falters and she suddenly feels flustered. His emerald green eyes look as though they are actually sparkling. She definitely takes notice in his masculine built – not a big as Dom – but good enough to drool over. His hair is short and his chin and jaw line is peppered with rugged stubble from his beard. He's completely and utterly hot and Letty is having a difficult time formulating any type of response.

She manages to swallow hard discretely before addressing him. "Not from my view," she finally says.

"Well your view must be as clouded as your arguments for muscle cars earlier," he fires back.

"My arguments clouded?" she questions incredulously.

"Yes," he answers calmly. "Muscle cars have their flaws too."

Letty sighs, "So what? You want to race again so I can prove you wrong?"

His lips curve up into a smile, revealing his perfect pearly whites. "No, I think we both know it'll end in a tie again. So, I'll gladly split the kid's pot with you. We both get 5k a piece. Not bad, right?"

Letty somehow pushes her flustered feelings to side and puts back up her tough exterior. "Fine, but if there's a next time, we race until there's a winner."

He smirks and walks with her to collect his half of the winnings from Hector. "I look forward to it," he whispers to her.

"Damn, you two put on one hell of a show. I gotta give you guys your props," Hector praises as he divides the money in half. "Let's go celebrate at the diner, people. Letty, Mia you guys better come."

Without any discussion they all slide into their cars and head back to Hector's diner to hang out.

Once Hector walks through the doors he orders small items on the menu to be distributed amongst all the guests. Mia and Letty vacate a table in one of the corners as they're served with beers that someone supplied. Letty marvels at how much she had missed this kind of scene in Los Angeles. It honestly feels great.

With the place nearing its capacity Mia sees a few friends across the room and waves. They motion for her to come over and she reluctantly complies. "Hey, Let, I'll be right back okay. I'm just gonna over and say hi," she tells her.

Letty motions with her drink to go. "It's alright, Mia. Go ahead and have some fun. You need it, square."

As soon as Mia begins a gait across the driver of the Nissan GT-R takes her warm seat. "Hi, again," he smiles.

"Hey," Letty says in her best unpleasant voice. _'Why is he always smiling and showing off his adorable perfect smile?'_ she wonders. It's slowly starting to annoy her because she likes it so much.

He cocks his head to the side. "Don't tell me you're still mad about the dead even tie?"

"Nobody is mad," she informs him hastily.

"Are you always this brash?" he asks curiously.

Letty sighs. "Look, what do you want?"

"Why do I have to want something? Did it ever occur to you that I'm just being polite? Or that I'm just trying to spark a simple conversation?" he asks innocently.

She sighs once more and avoids making eye contact because his deep green eyes are dangerously hypnotic. Instead of answering more of his questions, she takes a long sip of her beer and peers out of the window. She's hoping that he takes the hint and leaves. She watches the cars passing by, silently cursing to herself for allowing such thoughts about this extremely hot stranger to enter her mind. Dom had her heart, so this sudden infatuation made absolutely no sense.

After a few moments of silence he finally speaks again. "Well, I was just trying to make simple conversation. The name is Alex, if you were curious at all. It was a pleasure racing against such a phenomenal driver. Have a great night."

The tone in his voice sounded so sincere and Letty feels miserable for the way she treated him. "Hey, wait," she calls out. The sound of her voices never reaches his ears. It gets lost amongst the numerous bodies that pepper throughout the diner, and he continues to weave his way through to the exit.

"Great," she exhales, feeling annoyed.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As the night finally winds down Letty and Mia quickly find their way home and retreat to their respective bedrooms.

Letty collapses on the bed and does very little to fight the heaviness in her eyelids. Before she falls into a deep slumber an ounce of guilt quickly seeps into her mind. For the first time in ages she's actually thinking of another man as she falls asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast & Furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Letty's eyes begin to peel open as the sun's rays filter throughout the room. Her first thought isn't about Dom, Alex, cars, or any other problems, but the day of the week, Sunday. It tells her to push all of her problems to the backburner and focus on one person. A special person, Jesse. Without any assistance from Mia's voice she's up, out of bed, and stepping into the shower.

Letty lathers generous amounts of soap on her wash cloth as she showers, to ensure that any lingering stench of alcohol disappears. Even though she'll only be facing a head stone she wants to look and smell her best at the cemetery Jesse is buried at. As she thoroughly rinses off, her mind attempts to prepare herself for the rush of emotions she's expecting to feel while there. But when she steps out of the shower she has no luck as a considerable rush of nervousness washes over her. Although the thick towel sufficiently dries the beads of lingering water on her body, it fails to serve its purpose against her now perpetual sweaty palms. Despite her nerves, Letty still manages to dress in a timely fashion and is ready to leave before Mia.

The ride to the cemetery is rode in an uncomfortable silence. Mia notices the intense frown lines etched in Letty's face and knows not to interrupt her deep thinking. Letty is trying her best to formulate a proper response for when she's standing in front of Jesse's headstone and is frustratingly coming up empty. _It shouldn't be this difficult_, she stresses to herself mentally. Before she knows it Mia is parking alongside a curb, next to the endless meadows of head stones. Now, the only thought her mind can contain is panic, and instantly, starts nervously wringing her hands together.

With great concern in her eyes, Mia gently places a hand on her shoulder. "Letty," she whispers. "It's okay. We don't have to do this today if you're not ready."

Letty quickly shakes her head, "No, I need to do this."

Mia knows how stubborn Letty is and slowly retracts her hand and slides out of the car. She steps up on to the curb and carefully pads in-between the headstones. Letty follows close behind, still wringing her hands as she cautiously steps on the narrow path that does not have corpses directly underneath. Their feet stay in motion for a few minutes, until Letty runs into Mia's back.

"Sorry," she says softly.

Mia ignores the bump and the apology and points, "He's right over there."

Letty sighs and downcast her eyes to the ground. She's unable to look at the location Mia is pointing at. Feelings completely embarrassed she suddenly sprints behind a nearby tree to hide, as if hiding can stop Jesse from seeing how hesitant and nervous she is. "You go first. I'll wait here," she whispers breathlessly.

Mia nods and continues toward the same routine pathway to his grave, leaving Letty to calm her uneven breaths. She stays glued to the tree in a nervous trance until Mia walks past her and mutters that she's going to wait for her in the car.

Letty is not sure how much time has elapsed but she knows she needs to finally get moving and shake these ridiculous nerves. She draws in another deep breath and leaves her safe haven tree. As she treks toward the familiar pathway Mia took she finally lifts her gaze from the ground and sees it—his head stone. _In Loving Memory of Jesse Mathews_ she reads mentally.

She pads cautiously over the grass and delicately takes a seat adjacent from his grave before running her hand along his headstone. "Hey, Jesse," she whispers out as torrents of tears rush down her cheeks.

The desire to say sorry is heavily weighing on her mind. That word, sorry. It has already starting losing its meaning, and she assumes it's because people use it in so many different ways—especially as an excuse. So, rather than apologize, she begins talking about the thing he loved most, cars. She tells him about the Plymouth, all its modifications, and her new found love for muscle cars.

By the time her mouth stops moving, Letty feels significantly lighter, as if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. Even though there was nothing she could have done to prevent Jesse's death, she still feels an incredibly amount of guilt. She walks back to Mia's car with her head carried a little higher, and the weight of pent of guilt dropped significantly.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As the new week begins Letty falls into a new routine—fixing the charger, taking breaks to visit with old friends, and hanging out with Mia on her days off.

When she specifically returns to the racing scene she tries not to make it obvious that she's looking for him. She hopes the eagerness she feels to catch a glimpse of him—his emerald green eyes, dreamy smile—or his car are not painted on her face. She tries to convince herself that she is only searching for him to apologize for being so rude. But it's more than that. She cannot quite put her finger on it, but something about his presence demands her attention—and it's not just his good looks.

A few weeks elapse and her eyes come up empty. No sign of him. She mentally kicks herself for being such a bitch. _Great, I've run him off_, she thinks.

Just when Letty thinks he's fallen off the face of the earth, he shows up when she's the least prepared for him.

She's sitting in Hector's dinner with five plates of different breakfast items, taking generous amounts from each.

He walks up casually and smirks at the shocked expression on her face. He light chuckles as she quickly sets down her fork and wipes off a few drops of syrup and specks of egg from her mouth.

"Someone is starving," he comments on the scene.

Feeling embarrassed from being caught pigging out, her cheeks flush and turn a light pink. "I just really like breakfast," she jumbles out randomly.

He nods, "I see."

"So, where have you been?" she suddenly asks.

He smiles that perfectly smile. "You've been looking for me?"

Letty tries to force a convincing scoff. "Don't let your ego start getting any bigger, I was just reconsidering the rematch and noticed you've been absent. It's understandable though, no guy likes losing to a chick."

He laughs and invites himself to take a seat. "You're quite the character, got some spunk. I like that. But when you're ready you can tell me the reason you were looking for me."

Letty fights back a smile as she rolls her eyes. "Fine," she admits. "I was looking for you to say…sorry for being such a bitch. There."

He flashes a smile triumphantly as if he's just won a prize. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Whatever. Don't get used to it," she mutters.

"You know, if you're really sorry, then you'll go out to dinner with me," he informs.

Dinner with Alex was the last thing she expected to be offered. It caught her off guard so much that she nearly spit out the orange juice in her mouth.

He couldn't help but laugh at her nerves. He actually found it quite cute that someone who exerted such a tough persona could become so flustered. "Relax; it's not a marriage proposal. It's just dinner," he innocently added.

After regaining her composure, she surprises herself by agreeing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Fast and The Furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Letty doesn't use purses, but she's using a tote tonight. The sudden need for one isn't to impress Alex, but rather hide something from Mia. She rummages quietly and swiftly through Mia's closet, and is overwhelmed by all the choices. Glancing at the clock she quickly settles on a pair of suede ankle boots and dressy top, before throwing them in the bag. Alex isn't special enough for a dress just yet.

It's the guilt that makes her lie to Mia about where she's going. But it's not enough to stop her from walking out the front door. How is she supposed to tell Dom's sister that she's going out with another guy anyway?

_If you have to hide something it's probably wrong._

"Shut up, stupid subconscious," Letty mutters to herself as she starts up the Plymouth. There were numerous occasions where she caught Dom flirting with temptation. Only difference now, she was the one treading in dangerous territory. Scenes from when she found him after he fled flood her mind; him being overly friendly, and it's exactly what fuels her to keep driving.

Before reaching the restaurant, she detours to a gas station and changes in the restroom. After smoothing out the wrinkles in her blouse and applying a touch of mascara she's back on the road. In a matter of minutes she's parked in front of an Italian restaurant that appears pretty new.

Letty tosses the tote in the backseat and inhales deeply to calm the flutters of butterflies that spontaneously appeared in her stomach. Her eyes peer through the car windows and start searching for Alex. When she finds those tantalizing green gems her stomach settles, but now her heart rate increases. Without thinking or any hesitant thoughts, she exits her car and guides herself toward him as though there's a gravitational force pulling her. She smirks as she reminisces on the familiar feeling.

"Hey," he smiles and offers his hand to help her up the curb.

Ignoring the independent thoughts that tell her she's not made of candy glass, she accepts the gesture. "Hey," it's all she can manage to say at that moment.

Slowly they begin a steady gait to the entrance. Alex stares at her, and admires how beautiful she looks; he's even surprised at how well she walks in heels. Letty is surprised at how smooth the dinner goes. The conversation comes easy. She truly enjoys herself.

The night's dinner is all it takes for her to see him again. It quickly becomes a routine. Lying to Mia about her whereabouts is done so effortlessly.

There's a certain familiarity that attracts her to him—the way he always appears in control, the way people naturally flock to him, and the way he gives special attention to her.

At the race scene the majority of the people gravitate to him. He's well liked and Letty likes that. He gives everyone their fair share of attention they want from him but his focus is only on one girl; Letty.

Weeks pass and they continue to see each other but then he disappears again, without a word.

When he returns, he eventually trusts her enough to let him in on his secret; his illegal escapades. She listens intently, highly intrigued as he explains the reasoning behind it. It's not for the adrenaline—although it is great—but for school. MIT to be exact. He opens up and shares his love for designing cars.

Expecting the worse, Alex is surprised at Letty's reaction.

More than willing to be involved in another adventure Letty offers, "Anytime you need a hand, let me know, I'll be more than willing to help."

He smiles at this amazing girl he's managed to stumble upon before leaning in for their very first kiss.

It was soft and searing, but brief. Letty didn't have time to respond as a million emotions ran throughout her system.

That night she lay in bed trying to figure out exactly what it all meant. Were they a couple? Did she really want that? Or did she simply want the comfort a friend? As she began replaying all their moments together and how it made her feel, she has an epiphany. She likes him so much because he's like Dom in so many ways.

It's then that she knows that she doesn't really want to be with him. She'll always be attracted to someone who is like Dom. He's the only guy she's ever loved and probably ever will.

The next day she asks him to meet her at the beach. He does so, eager to see her. She doesn't prolong the inevitable and explains why they can't be anything more than friends. How her heart belongs to someone else. How her attraction to him is because of a whole other reason entirely. As the words tumble off her lips his face drops. He's too hurt to formulate any response, so he nods curtly and leaves.

Letty feels terrible for leading him on for weeks, but figures that its better he hurts now rather than later.

For the next few days Letty avoids the race scene and Hector's diner. She's not prepared to see him. But when she finally does, there's no sign of him. She settles on the notion that he's gone off to complete one of his escapades. However, when weeks turn into months, she knows he's not returning at all.

One night when she comes back from the races, she finds an envelope pinned to the garage door with her name on it.

She quickly snatches it and tears it open. Inside is a short note with an address located in Massachusetts.

_I know I'm mad now, but I'll get over it. Keep in touch and write sometime._

_Alex_

Letty clutches the note tightly and is thankful that he's still willing to keep in touch. She replaces the note, folds up the envelope and hides it for safe keeping.

Finally growing tired of her and Dom's current separation dilemma she flips open her laptop and begins to search. She scribbles down a number and quickly fumbles for her phone. She punches in the appropriate numbers, puts it to her ear and anxiously waits for someone to pick up.

"Come on chumpy, answer," she whispers to herself.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fast and Furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

Penning is vexed and for good reason. Another undercover agent was lost in the field when trying to infiltrate Braga's operation—the biggest heroin trafficker. The yelling man isn't just upset about another undercover's death, but at how each time they send someone, they're always so close to cracking the case, and then it abruptly ends. Restarting from square one, time after time has the veins in his neck ready to pop.

All the finely dressed agents working on the Braga case have their eyes on Penning, except one. His attention is in his own mind, wondering why the hell they don't just give in and put him in the field. He has the experience and knows the ropes better than anyone in the building. He would be the perfect candidate, but he knows they're not completely forgiving of his last stint with letting a fugitive get away. It's the one thing in his past that would always be stitched onto him as he continued a career with the law enforcement.

When Penning's rant finally wraps up the agent is snapped back into his current surrounds. He immediately gets up from his chair and briskly walks after Lead Agent Penning to harangue him about trusting him.

"Sir" is all the young agent is allowed to get out before he's interrupted.

"Brian," Penning sharply cuts in. "We've been over this and nothing has changed my mind. Now let's start finding another recruit."

He huffs and clenches his jaw as he retreats back to his desk. He flops down in his leather chair and stares blankly at his computer screen. Once again he's lost in thought when a red blinking light from the phone on his desk catches his attention. He picks up the phone and punches in his password to hear the new voicemails.

Holding the phone up to his ear with his shoulder, he retrieves a pencil and paper to write down a few leads some of his contacts have come across. It's when he gets to the very last message that causes him to freeze. The grip on the pencil loosens and falls to the ground. He's so shocked that he replays the message three times to make sure it's real and that it's really her. Even after five years her voice still sounds the same. Coming out of his stunned state, he types her number in his cell phone and immediately texts her.

_Just listened to your message, meet me tonight at the old racing spot. You know where._

Brain snaps his cell phone shut after it confirms the message was sent. He quickly dials his voicemail to his desk phone again and deletes her message. He's not going to take any chances with anyone in the office finding out. He's not ready to reveal this just yet. When he finishes he sits back in his chair, clutching his cell phone tightly in one hand, and biting his nails with the other as he waits for a response. After all these years he wonders what she could possibly want. It must be something pretty big if she called him of all people. The last time he had seen any of them was when they found out he was a cop.

The vibration of his phone slices through his thoughts, it's her and he quickly presses read.

_I'll be there at 9._

He's too nervous about their meeting to do actual work for the rest of the day. He pretends to read files and makes made up searches on his computer that could be 'potential' to the case. Finally, after running out of things to do at the office he says he's going to go meet a few a potential recruits. Instead, he drives around the streets of Los Angeles, silently hoping he catches a glimpse of her somewhere, but no luck.

He arrives at the abandoned space between two warehouses an hour early. His eyes wander around the old familiar place, where he was pulled not only into the racing culture, but the Torettos' lives as well. He laughs to himself as he remembers throwing down the pink slip to his car and Dom humiliating him afterwards. Good times, he thinks.

As nine o' clock closely approaches, Brian exits his car and leans against it—anxiously waiting for Letty's arrival.

Five minutes before nine, he hears the loud roar of an engine and can only assume it's a muscle car. Seconds later, a 70 Plymouth comes into view with Letty behind the wheel. He can't help but wonder when she switched from import to American muscle. She parks alongside him and is chuckling as she exits the car.

"Nice ride, chumpy. You ready to throw the pink slip down for that baby?" she teases.

All he can do is smile and shake his head. "Yeah, I know. FBI won't let me drive my usual import."

"FBI, huh?" she says with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, they recruited me." he explains before getting right to the point. "So what's going on, Letty? Where's Dom?"

She leans heavily against her Plymouth and sighs. "A lot, and for the first time I have no idea where Dom is."

"Really?" he asks, intrigued and wanting her to continue.

She bits her lip, hesitant about how much information she should tell him. He is FBI after all.

He notices and tries to assure her. "You can tell me, Letty. You can trust me."

"We all know what happened last time we trusted you," she says bitterly as she remembers the old wounds from five years ago.

Brian sighs in frustration and runs a hand through his short hair. "Yeah…"

Letty takes in consideration the guilt in his expression and admits, "Look, things have gotten pretty bad. They're searching for Dom like never before and we've had to split up. I can't take this separation anymore."

His brow rises in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Letty shoves her hands in her leather jacket. "I need your help. The only way for me and Dom to be together again is if he's name is cleared."

"You think I can make that happen?" he asks incredulously. "You think I can just log into a computer and wipe his record clean? He's wanted in more than one continent, Letty. You're asking for the impossible."

"I know that dumbass," she snaps. "I'm saying, maybe there's something we can work out with your higher ups."

"They're not going to do it just because I ask, Letty. I have history with Dom too. Remember, I let him go?"

"Maybe we can do some sort of exchange," she offers. "Is there some big case you guys are working on and need help with? I'll do it and in exchange clean Dom's record."

Brian briefly thinks of the Braga case and how Letty would be perfect for it. She already has an incredible street rep and can handle herself in dangerous situations. But then the images of the letters deceased across former undercover recruits' pictures stops him from telling her about it. There's no way he could ask her to do something that risky.

He gives her a sympathetic looks and shrugs his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Letty. There's nothing. I can't help."

Letty can't believe his words. "Are you serious? You owe me!"

"What?"

"You heard me," she shouts. "You fucking owe me. You're the reason why we started running in the first place. It's the _least _you could do!"

"If it wasn't me, then some other law enforcement was going to come down on you guys," he snaps back. "At least I let him go free."

"Oh yeah, right, free my ass." Letty rages on. "I knew it was a mistake to call you. Thanks for _nothing_!"

She quickly gets back into the Plymouth and speeds off leaving the smell of burnt rubber in Brian's face. He yells and angrily kicks his stupid FBI patrol car. He follows suit and speeds off in his car to his condo.

Rather than take the elevator he stomps all the way up the stairs to his condo and shoves the key into the lock angrily. He slams the door shut with as much for as possible before going to the fridge for a Corona. He takes a couple of swigs before unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt and tossing his jacking over a barstool. Tearing apart the Toretto Team still haunted him occasionally, but now more than ever after his meeting with Letty.

He knew how close those two were and couldn't even fathom how much it was tearing her apart. If Dom did get his name cleared, a reunion between him and Letty wouldn't just happen, but between his baby sister as well.

"Mia," he whispers to himself.

Her name and the thought of her still makes a million emotions run rampart through his system. When he thinks about it, it still amazes him how quickly she managed to nestle her way into his heart. When he returned to Los Angeles, he briefly considered seeking her out again. To apologize for the hurt he caused to her and her family. But he thought better of it, and knew it would only make things worse. Open up old wounds, so he left her alone and watched from afar.

After another couple of beers, Brian finally sinks into his bed and replays the night's conversation with Letty as he falls asleep.

The sound of the news on his clock radio causes his eyes to open. 6:00am is what the green digital letters display. He showers, gets dressed, eats a bowl of cereal before heading down to the FBI field office. When he gets off on the appropriate floor he has one destination in mind—Penning's office.

Upon first sight of Brian, Penning holds up a hand to him. "I already told you, O'Conner. You're not going into the field on this Braga case so drop it already."

Brian ignores the man's comments and continues into his office. "This isn't about me. This is about a possible undercover recruit that can _one-hundred percent_ help us bring down Braga."

Penning's interest is ignited. "Really? Where are they, I wanna meet them."

Brian takes a seat in front of his boss. "There's a catch. A certain condition they want, and it involves Dominic Toretto."

Penning's eyebrows quirk in confusion. "What are you getting at O'Conner. Start explaining."

Brian tells him about his contact with Letty, her capabilities, and the conditions she wants for her services. By the time he finishes explaining, Penning doesn't know what to think.

"His girlfriend? Are you shitting me O'Conner?" he asks, still trying to process all the information.

"Give her a chance, sir. Meet her if you want. You won't be disappointed," Brian explains.

With a little more convincing Penning agrees to meet her. As Brian exits his office he pulls out his cell phone and texts.

_I might be able to help you after all. It's dangerous Letty, life threatening dangerous, but if this is what you want be here at FBI Los Angeles Field office this afternoon._


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the fast and the furious or its characters. This fictitious work is for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

After her meeting with Brian, Letty sped home quickly and locked herself in Dom's old room. She belly flopped onto the mattress and clutched the pillow tightly in anger as hot tears streamed down her face. Brian's inability to help was a devastating blow. She felt utterly helpless now, because she knew that without the law enforcement being involved, the chance of clearing Dom's name was impossible. She tossed and turned all night in frustration; never really falling into a deep slumber.

Exhaustion eventually settled in because the faint vibrating sound coming from her phone wakes her up. She looks over at the clock and frowns, wondering who would be texting her so early in the morning before grabbing her phone. Seeing Brian's name makes her want to throw it across the room—thinking it's probably a lame ass apology—but clicks the view message button anyway. When she finishes reading the text a broad smile filled with relief occupies her face as she hurriedly texts him back saying: _I'll be there. _With renewed fervor Letty jumps out of bed to shower and prepare for her day.

As the afternoon approaches Letty pulls out her cell phone to call a cab and let's Brian know she's on her way. She slouches down in the backseat of the cab that she catches around the corner, and gives the driver an address that's a few blocks away from the FBI office. As she exits the car she tips the front of the baseball cap on her head further down, just shy of completely blocking her vision. The last thing she needs is someone from the neighborhood seeing her converse with the FBI or entering their building without cuffs. She walks the few blocks briskly toward the field office and enters discretely. The lobby is void except for a guard sitting at a desk in between the elevators. She approaches carefully and quickly mutters, "I'm here to see O'Conner."

"And your name?" he asks without looking up from the newspaper he's reading.

Letty is unsure about whether to give him her real name and briefly pauses before giving her last name only, "Ortiz."

The guard puts down his paper and briefly stares at her before picking up the phone to notify Brian. When he hangs up he grabs a portable metal detector and tells her to spread her arms and feet apart before approaching. He runs the flat detector around her body and when no alarming pitch goes off he points toward the elevator, "fifth floor."

She gets on and anxiously rides the elevator eager to work out the details of her demands and their own. When the shinny metal doors open on the fifth floor Brian is right there waiting for her, "Glad you made it."

"Wouldn't dream of passing up this opportunity," she tells him as he leads her toward Penning's office.

Before reaching the lead agent's office Brian confesses, "Look Letty, he isn't exactly sold on you being a recruit. He wants to meet you, so try and convince him."

"Piece of cake," Letty says confidently and walks into Penning's office.

He motions with his hand, "have a seat, Miss Ortiz."

Brian is about to take a seat as well when Penning's voice stops him, "Brian, we're fine. You can wait outside."

"But sir-"

"I'll be fine," Letty assures him and he reluctantly exits the office.

Penning wastes no time and jumps right into conversation, "So Brian tells me you're our meal ticket to infiltrating Braga and his whole operation."

"Absolutely," she answers honestly. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes, just as long as you satisfy my demands as well."

He sighs and clasps his hands together on his desk, "Yes, Brian has told me about that as well. That's no easy task, you know?"

"But not impossible," she adds.

"What makes you so confident?" he asks curiously. "Other than being familiar with this whole race scene, what makes you qualify to take this on?"

She looks at him incredulously, "You really don't think Dom pulled all stuff off by himself do you?"

He truly cannot imagine her holding her own alongside Dom and lending a hand in his dangerous track record, but the look in her eyes lets him know she's serious.

"You know you're saying this to an FBI agent?"

She smirks, "Yeah, an FBI agent that needs my help."

He leans back in his leather chair and stares at her as he contemplates his decision. He can tell by the intensity in her eyes that she's ready to spring into action. "Alright," he says. "We'll work together and you'll be in direct contact with me."

"No," she quickly states. "I'll only be in contact with Brian. He's the only one I trust, and I want our deal in writing."

He cannot believe she's already making such bold demands. "You'll get our deal in writing _after_ you show us some promising results."

Letty can tell the older agent is not going to budge and extends her hand for him to shake, "deal".

The rest of the meeting is spent going over details of the Braga operation they've attained, hot spots where their last recruit made progress, and other ins and outs of the case.

When she exits Penning's office Brian immediately rushes over to her and bombards her with questions, "How did it go? What did he say? What did you tell him?"

"You're looking at your new recruit," she tells him coolly as she presses the button to call for the elevator. "I'll be in touch, chumpy."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The days following Letty's meeting with Penning she starts keeping a close ear to any interesting conversations around the race scene. When she comes up short in that area, she starts to make frequent visits to Edwin's, watching for any unusual purchases, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. A week passes and Letty still cannot offer any leads to help the FBI, she feels like she's failing, and decides to take solace at Hector's diner slash automotive repair shop.

She orders a generous amount of food and begins eating slowly as she dwells in her lack of progress.

"I still wonder how the hell you put all that away," Hector interrupts her thoughts as he occupies the seat across from her.

She smiles at the sight of her old friend, "Still a gift I guess."

"Why you looking all depressed and shit?" he asks.

Letty looks down at the food displayed before her, "Got a lot on my plate right now."

Concerned, he asks, "Any way I can help?"

She looks up from her food and contemplates confiding in Hector, but knows that the less he knows the better. So she lies, "Maybe...I've been trying to find some action, like the kind I used to do with Dom. I've been coming to dead ends."

Hector knows exactly what type of action she's talking about. News broke like wildfire years ago about Dom, his escapades and how he got away. He remains quiet for a moment, contemplating on whether or not to share a piece of information that might peak her interest. He sees the desperation in her eyes and finally tells her, "There's a Korean fool that drops by the races every month, loaded with cash. He asks to setup a race with the best drivers of the night. He picks a few drivers promising them more and says he recruiting for some serious business."

This immediately excites Letty. Feeling as though this could be her ticket in, she quickly asks, "Has he come this month?"

"Nah, but he's always recruiting the second weekend of every month," he informs her.

"So, he'll be here this weekend then," she says excitedly as she rises from her seat and drops some cash on the table to pay for her food. "Thanks Hector."

Before she has a chance to take another step Hector grabs her arm to stop and warn her, "Letty, those people he recruits, nobody every sees them around anymore."

The information sends chills down her spine, she knows exactly what he's hinting at. She pushes the thought of being killed out of her mind and frees her arm from Hector's hold, "I'll keep that in mind."


End file.
